Bachillerato de Bellas Artes

English – Prof. María Cecilia Carattoli

Grammar: Comparative adjectives

Here are two famous actors in a famous film, TWINS. They are twin brothers
but their characters are very different:

Arnold Schwarzenegger Danny De Vitto

is JULIUS BENEDICT is VINCENT

BENEDICT

TAL SHORT
L
THI FAT
STRON
N WEAK
G
DISHONES
HONES
T
SERIOU
T FUNNY
S
INTELLECTU IGNORANT
AL Let’s compare them:

Julius is taller than Vincent. Vincent is shorter than Julius.

Julius is thinner than Vincent. Vincent is fatter than Julius.

Julius is more honest than Vincent. Vincent is more dishonest than Julius.

Julius is more serious than Vincent. Vincent is funnier than Julius.

How do we form comparatives for SHORT adjectives?

Read the examples about Julius and Vincent and complete the rules:

SHORT COMPARATIVE ADJ

ADJECTIVESADJECTIVE

one-syllable adj: tall Adj + -___

two-syllable adj ending in –y: funny i

-y +_____ = _____

Remember!
 Spelling rule

One-syllable adjs ending in 1 vowel + 1 consonant, double the final consonant when
they add -er:

thin: thinner fat: fatter

How do we form comparatives for LONG adjectives?

Read the examples about Julius and Vincent and complete the rules:

ADJECTIVE COMPARATIVE ADJ

two-syllable adj NOT ending in –y: honest

Three or four-syllable adjs. _______ + adj.

IRREGULAR comparatives:

What are the comparatives of these adjectives? Read the examples and complete
the table.

Peter is very good at windsurfing. Alan is bad at this sport.

Peter is better than Alan. Alan is worse at windsurf than Peter.

ADJ IRREGULAR COMPARATIVE

GOOD

BAD

Practice
1 Write more comparisons about Julius and Vincent. Use these adjectives:
STRONG / WEAK/ INTELLECTUAL /IGNORANT

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

2 Compare two fiction characters (people or cartoon characters). Write

sentences with the comparatives of these adjectives:

extrovert = shy good = bad old = young intelligent = silly

beautiful = ugly generous = mean big = small talkative = quiet